Nightstalker: Red Team book 1 Page 16

  “What is it Zane?” I asked.

  “All good.” He looked up, his eyes boring into mine.

  With a nod of acknowledgment, I let it go. Zane was not ready to share. I trusted my brother. He would never keep something important from his team.

  “That’s all I got boys. The jet will be landing in,” Jasmin stopped to look at her watch, “fifteen minutes. Flight plan to San Diego has been filled. Your transport to the tunnel will be awaiting you. See you all tomorrow, out.”

  Before I could even blink, Jasmin’s side of the screen went blank. My gut twisted in an uncomfortable knot. Something felt off. My head was so fucked I could not work out if it was all the shit swirling around with Jasmin or if something was off about the mission. Christ, I had to pull my head outta my ass before I got myself dead. My gut was always right, always.

  “Garrett you got anything else?” Zane looked up from his tablet.

  “That’s all I got. I’ll be on standby at HQ.”

  “No you won’t. Go home get some rest. You look like shit, brother. Drew and Jas can take over from here.”

  “I’ll sleep in your office, Z, I need to be here. Out.” Garrett disconnected before Zane could argue. Smart man.

  The screen once again came to life and images of three men were displayed. Each of them standing in their dress uniforms; complete with the maroon colored beret displaying the Recce insignia on the left side. Behind them was the South African flag. None of them looked familiar. I glanced around at the team to see if any sort of recognition dawned on them. Nothing. Well, fuck me, this was not good.

  “I will make this brief, six years’ service all three. Tito Lee. Only child, honorably discharged, clean record, top of his class in his Special Forces Basic Training Cycle, served four years in SANDF. Junior Alco. other than honorable discharge, two older sisters. Father deceased murdered in a robbery attempt, middle of the road through his schools, five years in SANDF. Benele Yost. Cousin of Alco, dishonorable discharge, only child both parents deceased boating accident. Raised by his uncle and aunt, uncle deceased, in and out of trouble all through school. Several letters of misconduct, violation of rules of engagement, court marshalled by UN officials, civilian casualties.” Zane stopped and placed his tablet on the table scrubbing his hands over his face. “I have seen firsthand this son of a bitch’s handy work. He is a mean mother fucker and does not give the first two shits about taking out everyone, innocents included.”

  I knew my brother had seen some fucked up shit in his time. He locked it down deep and would not allow anyone in to help relieve the burden. So God damn strong all the time, but one day all that weight will bear down and break even the strongest man.

  “Do not let Yost get the drop on you. Do not hesitate. This is not a CIA op, this is a cleanup effort. Clean these mother fuckers up by any means necessary. I am fully aware of what I am asking of you and in a court of law it might be considered murder. I do not give two shits that I am playing judge, jury and executioner with these scumbags. The last time I saw Yost he slit a six -year-old hostage’s throat after the boy was no longer needed. If you are uncomfortable with what I am asking, stay behind.” Zane had officially gone thermonuclear. His face was stone and his eyes had gone blank. That six-year-old’s death was still weighing on him and he was ready to exact retribution.

  I looked around the room, the team stood at the ready, all with the exact same steely looks of determination on all of their faces. At that moment I finally felt it, I belonged and was God damn proud to stand beside these men. Each of us ready, none of us blinking an eye at taking out these fucks. Four less dirt bags in the world.

  No one spoke a word as Zane studied each of us. “Right. Let’s roll.”

  “HOOYAH”

  ***

  We touched down in California six hours later. I would like to say that my gut still wasn’t screaming at me, but that shit would be a lie. Something was not right, the look on Zane’s face only confirmed that my instincts were spot on. He felt it too. We rode to our drop point in silence. Thank fuck each of the men around me had already slipped into that cool detachment. no one needed to fill the silence.

  “Two-minute warning,” our driver announced.

  “Roger that,” Zane was curt.

  I mentally went over all my gear one more time, touching the front of my vest, insuring each item was precisely where I needed it. With a knock to my chest to confirm my plates were indeed in my carrier, I sat back. Old habits and all that. My first deployment in Afghanistan an infantry specialist came back to base with a small caliber GSW. He had forgotten to wear a plate carrier. That would have stopped the bullet. Instead he died in surgery, stupid mistake. After that I always knocked my chest to confirm I did not make that same mistake.

  “Nightstalker, over,” Zane tested his COMS.

  “Loud and clear, Viper,” Jasmin came back over our COMS.

  “Viper out.” Zane turned around in the front passenger seat. “Black is ready, we are a go.”

  We all remained silent and nodded. The car rolled to a stop in a valley surrounded by red rocks, we had almost complete cover down here. It was no wonder the cartel used this location for the smuggling tunnels. Each of us filled out of the SUV, our M4’s at the ready, scanning the surrounding hilltops through the reticles of our scopes.

  Zane walked towards Captain Black. Leo, Jax, and I followed. Eric and Colin stayed by the car, their weapons still pointed up towards the hills, scanning for hostiles.

  “Black,” Zane greeted.

  “Viper, good to see you again brother. Panther, Blue, Ghost,” Captain Black offered by way of greeting.

  Captain Black was somewhat of a legend in the SEAL community. He was known as a badass mother fucker. I felt a hell of a lot better knowing I had him and his team at our six.

  “My team will patrol the valley on this side of the border. Just an everyday training exercise as far as the DOD knows. Don’t make me blow my load over here; the Commander will have a shit conniption if I come back with a discharged weapon on American soil. Not that I couldn’t use some target practice.” Black’s team all chuckled.

  “Copy that, simple in and out. Nightstalker relay mission codes?” Zane asked

  “Affirmative.” Black was always no nonsense. Short and to the point, no bullshit. One of the many things I liked about him.

  “See you on the other side. Team, let’s roll.” Zane shot his hand in the air and made a circling motion with his finger.

  ***

  These God damn tunnels always smelled like stale death and shit, only made worse by the stifling heat. I breathed in a lungful of clean night air when we made it out the other side. I pulled my Newcon Optiks night vision binoculars down over my eyes and scanned the area.

  We stalked the South wall of the valley, following the winding creek. No one spoke. There was no need for words. Every now and then Zane would make a fist and stop our progress to scan the area. The team worked silently together assessing our surrounding. We finally made it to the valley opening where Sonreír’s property began.

  “Blue, Wolf, go. Panther, Ghost, go. Breeze we’re out,” Zane ordered.

  Each two man team quietly slid into place, keeping their positions concealed. Leo and I hugged the mountain and slowly trudged our way to the rendezvous point.

  My COMS crackled to life and I heard the sweetest voice filling my ears. “Ghost you have movement at your eleven o’clock, confirm, over.”

  We had already spotted the movement and halted our progress. Leo was investigating the area with his thermal monocular. I had my M4 up and scope fixed on the hostile’s head.

  “Ghost here, confirmed, over.”

  “Viper, advise we have a hostile at eleven degrees north of your location.”

  “Viper here, how’s your view, Ghost?”

  “Clear and bright, Viper. Yappin’ on a phone and rippin’ a butt,” I replied.

  This shit bird was standing outside, talking on his phone and smok
ing, delaying any further movement.

  “Blue and Wolf, you are clear to proceed. Viper team halt. Ghost team stay put.”

  “Ghost here, Roger.”

  “Viper here, Roger that.”

  “Blue here, copy.”

  I continued to hold my crosshairs on the man’s forehead as he paced the forecourt of the house and leisurely smoked his cigarette. If I didn’t know any better, I would swear the asshat was fucking with us. My gut tightened again and I became hypersensitive to every movement around me.

  “Nightstalker you got eyes in the sky?” I questioned, something was telling me this was fucked.

  “Affirmative Ghost,” Jasmin came back.

  Thank fuck she had real time drone footage. We would be pinned down in the valley otherwise.

  Just when I was ready to shoot this asshole to get the show on the road he flicked his cigarette onto the gravel and walked back inside. Leo confirmed the man was back in the house as his heat signature disappeared.

  “Clear. Viper team move out,” I updated Zane.

  “Roger that.”

  Leo and I started back towards the house, less than two hundred and fifty yards to go.

  “Viper team coming up on your nine o’clock, Ghost team,” Jasmin warned.

  Her voice should have calmed me. Knowing she was watching over us, giving me direction, hearing the sweet cadence of her voice. It did not do a damn thing to stave off this snake curling in my gut. I turned towards my left and saw Zane and Colin coming up next to us.

  “Confirmed, in my sights. Nightstalker do you have intel on any micro Doppler imaging in this area?”

  My instincts were now screaming at me and I could no longer ignore them. This shit was not right. Even for a man that ruled in fear, this should not be this easy. Zane was at my side now and with a nod from him I knew we were on the same page.

  Micro Doppler, along with laser vibration sensors, would tell us if there were any hidden underground tunnels or bunkers. It was a new technology. Intel coming back from it was a crap shoot but something was better than nothing.

  “Negative Ghost.”

  “Copy that.”

  Zane gave us the signal to proceed; we spread out, M4’s drawn and shouldered. We trekked to the side of the conservatory, taking cover between large planter boxes.

  Zane gave me the signal to take the lead around the corner to scope out the large bay of windows. Just as I rounded the corner I spotted the man from earlier step back outside. Now I had a clear view of Benele Yost. Fuck it all to hell. I silently crept back to the corner stopping to listen to the man as he spoke in to his phone.

  “They are coming tonight, it was confirmed by the spook himself.” Yost had a thick South African accent.

  “Ghost has a hostile at his twelve o’clock ten yards away,” Jasmin said through the COM.

  “Copy that Nightstalker,” Zane acknowledged. “Blue, Wolf, hold your positions, over.”

  “Everything is in place, he has already been moved,” Yost continued to speak on the phone.

  Damn, fuck, shit! This was a mother fucking ambush. I grabbed my radio and squelched three times signaling Zane and the team to move out and evacuate. I could not speak without giving away my location.

  “Confirm that last transmission Ghost,” Zane came through.

  I squelched my radio again.

  “Roger that Ghost. Fall back lookout one.”

  “Ghost can you abort?” Jasmin asked over the radio.

  I squelched my radio once in the negative. I was pinned in this corner. One move would give away my location.

  “Copy that Ghost. Viper team, Black has been dispatched to lookout one. Blue team is at the mouth of the valley.” There was no hint of panic in my woman’s voice. She was a fucking warrior princess. I was so damn proud of her.

  Yost was still on the phone, just lighting a second cigarette. His back was to me, making it impossible for me to hear what he was saying. As long as my team was safe and at the mouth of the valley I could stand here all day.

  “Viper team, I have you in my sights. You are fine as wine all the way through.” That was Jax. Thank Christ, Zane, Colin, and Leo where all at the fall back location.

  “Ghost, I still have eyes on you. There is no other movement in your area. Give me two if you copy.” I gave Jasmin two in confirmation. “Roger that, Ghost. Viper, you are good to go up the mountain. No other hostiles in the area.”

  I felt better knowing that my team would be in sniper positions if this shit went any more FUBAR. I knew this shit was whacked from the start. I should’ve listened to my gut.

  “The detonator is set. All I need is that Zane Lewis fuck to show his face and this place will be leveled.”

  Mother of a cock sucking piece of shit, this place was wired to blow. If I wasn’t fucked before, I was now. I used my radio to tap out the code for explosives.

  “Ghost, please confirm that last transmission,” Jasmin’s voice came through my ear piece. For the first time her voice sounded a little shaky. I confirmed. “Copy that Ghost. Get your ass out of there now. Blue is ready to lay down cover fire. Double tap that mother fucker in front of you and get out.”

  I had realized my mistake two damn seconds too late. I lifted my M4 to take my shot when the door I was backed up against flew open. There was no time. No time to take the shot, no time to turn and fight, no time to radio my sweet Jasmin that I loved her.

  My time was simply up; I felt the first bullet burn through me. After that, nothing.

  Chapter Twenty

  Jasmin

  “Ghost, come in.”

  I stared at the screen in front of me in horror. The corner that Linc had been standing in was covered by a portico, preventing me from seeing him. I watched as Yost turned and lunged in his direction after shots were fired.

  “Nightstalker, confirmed two shots fired.” Zane was not giving me any new information.

  Fucking hell, I knew something was off. I knew it.

  “Viper team is on the move, I repeat Viper team is on the move, out.”

  “Ghost, come in.”

  Where the hell was he? We only had access to this drone for thirty more minutes, then I would be blind.

  “Blue, thirty minutes until I lose eyes.”

  “Copy that, Nightstalker.”

  “Viper, you are in the clear, no movement.”

  And just then my world exploded. Literally it exploded into a ball of flames and debris. My eyes widened in shock as I watched the house that Linc was next to explode. I no longer had a visual on anything other than flames and smoke.

  “Viper!” That vaguely sounded like Eric. “Viper, come in.”

  “Mother fucking hell, Nightstalker, come in,” Eric yelled. I could hear his breath coming out in short pants as he ran. I was frozen, “Jasmin, come in NOW.”

  I jumped when Eric yelled my name pulling me back, “Go for Nightstalker.”

  “Do you have eyes on Viper and Breeze?”

  “That is a negative, there is too much smoke, I am blind.”

  I was in a haze and barely heard any of the commotion going on around me. Drew was yelling on the phone to someone, The President had come barreling through the door of the situation room. I felt a hand on my arm and I shrugged it off without even looking up from my screen.

  “Ghost, come in. Viper!” I tried again.

  “Viper, here, you’re coming in broken and stupid, over.”

  Thank God Zane was ok. His COMS must have been damaged in the blast making it difficult to hear me.

  “Everyone, what’s your twenty? I have no eyes, too much smoke. I repeat no eyes.”

  “Panther here, cover at the bottom of the mountain, over.”

  “Blue here, sniper top of the mountain, over.”

  “Wolf here, we are on our way back to the mountain. Viper and Breeze are five by five, I repeat they are square. No sign of Ghost.”

  FUCK! I felt a tear slip past my lashes as I tried to blink back more fr
om falling. I needed to fix this shit, not break down.

  “Drew, is that Garrett?”

  He gave me a nod of his head and put Garrett on speaker. I muted my COMS before I spoke, I did not want the rest of the team to hear me, “Garrett, Benele Yost was talking to someone before the explosion, see if you can pull records. Also I heard Yost say, ‘they are coming tonight, it was confirmed by the spook himself’ for the love of Christ, please tell me what sell out in the God damn CIA is responsible for this shit show.”

  I unmuted my COMS. “Ghost, come in.” I yelled again.

  “Negative Nightstalker,” that was Zane, his voice sounded defeated, broken. “No chance. There is a hole in the ground.”

  “NO! Fuck no!” I ripped my headphones off my head and threw them on the desk.

  I needed some air. I was going to vomit any minute; I could feel it making its way up my throat. Jesus Christ, what just happened? How in the hell did that just happen? I found myself locked in a bathroom on the floor wiping vomit off my lips and tears off my cheeks. My chest burned like someone had just carved my heart out with a freaking butter knife.

  There was a knock at the door. I ignored it. It came again I could not speak a word it was physically impossible for me to utter a word through this pain. Then I heard my aunt’s voice. “Jasmin, darlin’, I am going to ask security to unlock this door. I need to hold you sweet girl.”

  My entire body was wracked with sobs. He was gone. I had truly lost my husband forever.

  ***

  “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”

  I looked up at Lincoln. He looked so damn sexy in his suit, his eyes were sparkling and so full of love.